Disseveration
by Alec N Meg
Summary: Inuyasha and Kagome go their separate ways after the Shikon Jewel is completed.


DISSEVERATION

Written by Alecto

Approved by Megaera

Author's Note: I finally managed to pull a decent fanfiction out of my ass. This one I thought of while listening to Green Day. Music is what inspires me most of the time.

Disclaimer: When I'm drunk I think I own them but sadly it is not true.

☼☼☼

"So… I guess this is it… This is sayonara." Kagome stared at her beaten up shoes and absently fidgeted with the completed Shikon no Tama around her neck. She just couldn't meet her eyes with Inuyasha's as she stood with the well a few feet behind her, bidding him a final goodbye. His eyes held such intensity; she feared they'd pierce right through her.

"Yeah…guess so." Inuyasha was averting his eyes as well; he stared at the surrounding trees in favor of the miko.

"I'll just get going then…" Kagome turned away from the hanyou and threw her legs over the edge of the magical well, sitting on the rim.

Suddenly she had an impulse. "Oh, Inuyasha," Kagome finally looked him in the eyes and he looked right back. The golden depths of his orbs were filled with so many things it was overwhelming, but at the same time not enough. What she saw blurred as her blue eyes filled with tears. She cast her vision downward.

"Never mind… Goodbye Inuyasha."

"Goodbye, Kagome." His voice was a little unsteady; an almost undetectable quavering.

She dangled her feet above the darkness of the Bone-Eater's well for a few moments before throwing herself into it. Her teardrops floated upwards as she fell, leaving the sengoku jidai for the last time.

"I love you, Inuyasha." Kagome whispered, but he couldn't hear her.

The hanyou felt wetness building up in his eyes and for once he allowed his tears to run down his cheeks. He was unsure of the reason and emotion behind his crying. Inuyasha wasn't skilled in the area of analyzing tears, even his own. The last time the demon had cried it was from relief and happiness that Kagome had lived through something terrible. This time it was different…

"Kagome, I love you."

…Inuyasha shed tears because she had taken his heart down the well and through time with her.

☼☼☼

Several years had passed since Kagome's departure in the month of September and Inuyasha hadn't stepped one foot outside his forest for anything. Leaving the area would be pointless. The humans in the nearby village had turned bitter since the death of the old miko, Kaede. Kikyo had been put to rest. Miroku and Sango had set out to begin a new life for themselves in the village where Sango was born. Shippo was the only one who stuck around, mainly because he had nowhere else to go.

Kagome had served as a sort of foster mother to the kitsune kit and with her gone he'd turned to Inuyasha as a guardian. But somehow it had worked the other way around, with Shippo looking after the hanyou. He preserved the dog demon's sanity and life in a way.

Inuyasha had changed since Kagome made the last journey through the well. All of the arrogance, insolence, and personality had abandoned him, leaving the hanyou with a numb heart and a longing for the young miko. He wasted his days being tormented by memories and thoughts of her. There was simply nothing left for him in the world because she had been his world. It was a sad and pathetic way to live indeed.

Inuyasha lay motionless inside a cave near the magicless well, his arms spread out to the sides on him, palms up. He gazed upwards at nothing with hollow, golden eyes, devoid of all intensity and fire. Because of months spent here like this the hanyou had become wan and gaunt, almost dead looking. He'd occasionally wander aimlessly in his forest but most of his days were spent in the cavern.

The familiar pitter of small feet at the mouth of the cave caused Inuyasha to momentarily turn his head to acknowledge Shippo before returning to festering in his hole. The kit was only here to remind him to eat.

"Inuyasha, ya gotta go eat something. How about we go hunting together." Shippo offered.

The hanyou shook his head. "Maybe tomorrow." That excuse had been decent and believable enough for Shippo for the past week but Inuyasha doubted that it would be good enough now.

"You've said that for _days_. You can't just be here without moving or eating forever." Shippo pleaded.

"Tomorrow. I promise." The 'I promise' was a newer excuse and would most likely subdue the child for a time before he finally realized that the promise was never going to happen.

"'Kay." Shippo disappeared through the cave's mouth, leaving Inuyasha in solitude once again.

After awhile the hanyou slipped off into a deep sleep. He spent his hours dreaming of Kagome. Her voice, her scent, her smile, her beauty. Through him she was a perfection that he didn't deserve, but still, in his dream he held her in a tight, protective embrace. Inuyasha told Kagome that he loved her over and over again and every time she would reply and say she loved him back.

He kissed her, nipping her soft lips with his fangs and thrusting his tongue inside her welcoming mouth. He deepened the passionate kiss even more, searching for a cure to the chill within him. Kagome moaned what sounded like his name and stroked his furry, white ears. At some point in the dream Inuyasha's feet lost touch with the ground and he found himself laying down, tangled with Kagome.

Being near her and touching her felt so right. Kagome was beautiful inwardly and outwardly, she accepted and loved him for whom and what he was. With Kagome, Inuyasha was truly happy……

Inuyasha woke to the sound of rain with the horrible, empty feeling that comes from departing a wonderful fantasy and arriving into a shitty reality. The hanyou was use to crossing that chasm from the side with Kagome to the side without Kagome, but the feeling of it never got stale. He dreamt of her often and every time he awoke feeling very pessimistic. He wondered if there would ever be a time when he could think of her without being flooded with grief.

The sky outside was black and heavy precipitation was falling over the forest. Bright lightning spider-webbed across the sky and thunder rumbled. Neither stars nor moon were visible. It would've been a full moon and starry sky if not for the rain.

Inuyasha got to his feet, a few of his joints popped in protest. He left the cave and stood just beyond the entrance, allowing the white-noise of the rain to swallow him. His clothing quickly soaked through and clung to his body. The water clumped Inuyasha's hair and flowed in rivulets down his face, chest, and back. He hoped his memories of her would wash away with the rain but he also refused to let go. Inuyasha didn't wish to forget his dearest Kagome but he no longer wanted to carry the pain. But remembering meant feeling and feeling meant pain. He threw back his head and swore to the weeping sky.

The hanyou began walking. He was unsure of his destination but he soon discovered himself to be standing in front of the God Tree, sopping wet. Thin vines were wound around the trunk and the roots protruded above ground, looking like tangled, brown snakes. There was still a barkless area where Inuyasha was once pinned.

The well was significant for its ability to take things either five-hundred years forward or five-hundred years back, but the God Tree was where everything had begun; where hanyou and miko first met.

Inuyasha felt a sharp stab of envy. The tree would live through the ages and see Kagome again, while he would not. The tree, a plant, would stand tall and sturdy through the years while Inuyasha withered. It was unfair, but wasn't everything? Having been killed by the woman he had loved. Having been trapped, alone for fifty years under the curse of an arrow. Having suffered through battles, bloodshed, and hell only to wind up all alone again. Life was unfair—or maybe just plain cruel.

Inuyasha sat down in the mud. He'd move eventually, or never. It hardly mattered.

☼☼☼

Kagome attacked every nook and cranny in her room with the fluffy duster. Dust just loved to collect in corners, on desks, shelves, and windowsills. It seemed that dust particularly enjoyed invading her room.

After she had discontinued her adventures in the sengoku jidai, Kagome had begun life as a shrine maiden. She'd watched her friends move on with life while she stayed behind and tended to the shrine with her family. At one time she had believed that she could pick up on school and collect the pieces of her old, happy, carefree self and date a normal guy—like Houjo. But that was impossible. The shreds of her previous life and self had long since been lost and Kagome wasn't interested in finding them. And she had to face it; Houjo was a pansy and would never be able to turn her on like Inuyasha could.

Kagome got down on her stomach to dust under her bed. Why she was dusting there was beyond her, but she figured that she might as well since she had nothing better to do. She used her left hand to lift the bed-skirt. There were a lot of things stored under her bed, stuff Kagome couldn't keep or throw away. There was her baby-book; a photo album filled with nothing but pictures of her father; a box full of sentimental things; her bow. One particular box drew her attention, mainly because it was trying so hard not to draw her attention. It was a dull, brown box, a bit wider than her palm, pushed up against the wall behind her pair of ice-skates.

Kagome had to stick the entire length of her arm and her shoulder underneath her bed to get it. Once she opened the box the reasoning behind her act of hiding the thing away became clear instantaneously. The box contained several photos taken with a Polaroid camera. Kagome removed three of the pictures and held them like playing cards.

The first picture was one of Inuyasha. He had his left hand covering his face and the other was lashing out, in attempt to destroy the camera taking the picture. Kagome clearly recollected the day she had taken it. Even after she'd explained several times that the camera was harmless, Inuyasha had still firmly held onto his belief that it was an evil instrument capable of stealing his soul and spitting it out in the form of an image.

The next picture was a little lopsided and had all six of them in it; it had been taken by Kaede after Kagome taught her how to use it correctly. They were sitting down inside Kaede's hut. Miroku was to the far right and next to him sat Sango. She had her hand over his. Kagome was unsure whether Sango held his hand to prevent the monk from groping her or because she wanted to. Maybe it was both.

In the picture, Kagome was kneeling next to Sango and she had her right arm around Inuyasha's shoulders. Shippo was sitting in front of everyone, holding Kirara. Inuyasha was the only one not smiling (other than Kirara) and he had blinked because of the flash, but Kagome loved and kept the photo anyway. It was perfect.

A teardrop fell on the photo and it was soon followed by another. Kagome was crying. She sniffled and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. There was still a last picture to look at.

The third photo was also of Inuyasha. She had taken it without his consent or knowledge. It was a very nice profile of him that cut off just below the shoulder. Though she couldn't exactly see the tree he was leaning against, Kagome knew it was a sakura tree. A few of the blossom's pink petals were suspended in the air around the hanyou. He had a very vehement, brooding expression on his face and was gazing at some unseen thing not captured in the image, or maybe nothing at all.

He looked gorgeous, Kagome concluded. The beauty Inuyasha had was very unearthly, like something from a faerietale. His eyes were golden and fiery with mere slits for pupils, like nothing Kagome had ever seen even in contact lenses. His hair didn't have the dull quality of the elderly but a sheen that grew even purer and brighter when light hit the strands. And he had absolutely adorable dog ears, that was a plus.

Inuyasha was deadly too; wild and untamed. His fangs and talons weren't just for intimidation; there was blood and death on them. For an instant Kagome allowed herself to fantasize what it might be like for him to kiss her with those fangs and touch her with those clawed hands. The girl quickly dismissed her thoughts, feeling impure for thinking them.

Suddenly Buyo, Kagome's pet cat, darted out from under the bed and proceeded to exit the room and dash down the stairs. Kagome had only glimpsed it, but she was certain that the cat had something shiny in his mouth. He had a habit of eating random, inedible things and Kagome didn't want him to choke on whatever-it-was so she followed him.

Following Buyo somehow got her outside in front of the God Tree. The calico cat was on one of the lower, yet still very high branches; unreachable. Kagome placed her hand on the barkless part of the tree where Inuyasha was once trapped.

After she had left the sengoku jidai, Kagome had leapt down the well everyday and sometimes twice a day, hoping that somehow she would return to Inuyasha and the rest of her friends. Unfortunately that never happened and the number of times Kagome jumped down the well daily decreased until she avoided it completely.

"I should just give it up. I'm never gonna see him again." Kagome said to no one in particular.

Something small and hard dropped and hit Kagome on top on her head. If the God Tree had been an acorn tree she would've thought it to be an acorn, but the God Tree wasn't an acorn tree so Kagome suspected that what had hit her was whatever Buyo had stolen from her room. She turned around to pick it up.

It was the Shikon no Tama.

Tears flooded Kagome's eyes and chased each other down her cheeks as she picked up the jewel and clutched it to her chest. She didn't know if she was crying from sorrow, joy, or whatever and she didn't care. All she had on her mind was a wish.

A brilliant, white glow engulfed Kagome and an unnatural wind swirled around her, shaking the branches of the God Tree. The glow intensified and the winds strengthened, creating a miniature tornado with Kagome in its center. Then, it ended. Nothing was left. No Kagome, no jewel, just nothing.

Buyo gingerly descended the tree using his claws and happily returned to the house.

☼☼☼

Author's Note: I kinda rushed a bit at the ending but… I really have no excuse for it, actually. I still think that my little fanfic here is pretty good. I thought about Buyo some and how it was his fault that Kagome fell down the well in the first place, so why shouldn't he be the one who ends up bringing her back.


End file.
